BIO
Rose Morrison is an artist who embodies the roar of the sea with a pure and delicate voice, captivating audiences for nearly 25 years as a professional musician. Hailing from Baddeck, Nova Scotia, this versatile fiddler has carved out an impressive career, collaborating with luminaries such as Oscar and Grammy Award winner Glen Hansard, Irish folk legend Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich (Breanndán Begley), and celebrated Scottish-Canadian tenor John McDermott. She has graced the stage of Carnegie Hall twice, most recently in March 2024 for a tribute to Sinéad O’Connor and Shane MacGowan. Rose has recorded three albums, toured extensively across North America, Europe, and Japan with The Cottars, and is a three-time East Coast Music Award winner.
Her latest album, The River She Knows, marks a significant evolution in her artistry, reflecting a newfound connection to her Cape Breton roots after living away for over a decade. While Rose has long been recognized for her fierce, untamed fiddle playing, she has also been quietly writing songs for years, though rarely performing them. This album showcases her as a songwriter, a role she embraced with the encouragement of award-winning singer-songwriter and producer Dave Gunning, who began collaborating with her in November 2021. The first song they worked on, “Let Our Love”—a simple yet powerful ode to enduring love, was released as a single in February 2022 to popular and critical acclaim.
The River She Knows features nine songs and one tune that Rose wrote or co-wrote over four years. The album reveals her emerging voice as a poignant and insightful songwriter, exploring themes of connection - to the river, the land, people, love, and ultimately, herself. The river she knows, Peter’s Brook, serves as a central metaphor for these relationships and her artistic resurgence.
This is Rose’s third solo album, following her 2010 debut The MacKenzie Project and Atlantic, which won the 2018 ECMA for Instrumental Recording of the Year. She is also preparing to release a duo album in the fall with frequent collaborator Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich. The pair met in Ireland in 2017, bonding over their shared love of music and the sea. Their collaboration includes Voices of the Naomhóg, a project for the Celtic Colours International Festival that blends traditional Irish boat-building with music, Gaelic song, and dance.
Beyond her recording and performing career, Rose serves as Artistic Director of the Little Church Concert Series at the Vicar’s View venue in Big Baddeck. Now in its third season, this popular series presents international artists in a charming, intimate riverside setting where Rose feels a deep ancestral connection.
In 2025, Rose was named Artist-in-Residence at Cape Breton University, where she spent the winter leading workshops in step dancing, songwriting, tune composition, painting, and origami. She also facilitated community sharing circles and presented a culminating concert with students and collaborators. Later this year, she will become the first-ever Artist-in-Residence on Sable Island, a prestigious opportunity awarded by the Sable Island Institute. Her October residency will involve composing, painting, and field recording while living on the remote island, drawing inspiration from its natural landscape and ecology.
In addition to her work in music, Rose is an accomplished visual artist. Her latest painting collection - also titled The River She Knows - is a body of work rooted in ancestral connection, ecological reverence, and creative surrender. Each original piece was created using pigments respectfully gathered from the riverbed, alongside acrylic, pastel, and natural elements like mint leaves and rose petals. These works are not merely images of nature but quiet collaborations with it, offering moments of stillness, spirit, and reflection.
Rose Morrison continues to enchant audiences with her rich creative heritage, deeply rooted in the natural beauty of Cape Breton and continually enriched by her diverse global experiences and evolving artistic voice.